Saxon 767 Az or Celestron 76 EQ?

[Loki Calavera]

Hi guys,

I have a friend who has just had a Saxon 767 Az bought for him, however he's thinking of swapping this for the Celestron 76 EQ.

I know nothing of either scope, so what would you guys recommend?

Maybe something else entirely?

Thanks!

[Capricorn]

From what I can tell the 2 scopes are identical, it would appear to be the mount that is different. One is a small equitorial the other is a small Alt/Az. I suspect they are both spherical mirrors as they are f/9.2

Very few places sell the Celestron and the Saxon seen to be possibly Australian in manufacture. I guess that it came from binoculars.co.uk as they are about the only place that lists both.

There are better but more money would have to be added, and that assumes that they stick with the hobby - many drift away as it means standing outside at night usually in the cold (clear skies = cold nights), and there is not that many nights to stand outside getting cold owing to clouds.

"Better" options would be something like the Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145P but that means adding about £50 and the mount is not really a great improvement.

The "sensible" upgrade would be to something like the Skywatcher Explorer 130P on the EQ3-2 mount. That is however another £100. The scope is a reasonable aperture and the mount is fair and motors could be added if they stick to astronomy.

Of the 2 you have mentioned then I would suggest the Celestron simply because it is on the EQ mount. A bit more difficult to start with but equitorials are what they will meet later and may as well learn now. It may also be possible to put an RA motor on the one with the Celestron and get some basic tracking.

Unless they have a spare £100 waiting to be spent and they do intend to take up astronomy then I would would suggest swap the Saxon for the Celestron, get used to a scope and an EQ mount and learn from it. Then upgrade at some later time, consider a 150P dobsonian as a good step up that may last for a number of years.

To throw a spanner in the works 76mm is pretty small for a reflector and that concerns me most, 114mm would be better.

[Loki Calavera]

Thanks a lot Capricorn. Exactly what I was after!

I'll speak with him today and let him know the options / concerns. He's definitely not one to get driven away by cold nights and what not though; he's one of them snowboarding type of people

Thanks again.